Torpedo



March 19, 1929. H. CLAUSER TORPEDO Fil ed May 13, 1926 vioemlfoz ammo/1 This invention'relates to torpedoes, and morefparticularly to the construction oftoy 'terpedo'esbr the tube type.

fltis a general object of thepresentinvention.,to providea novel and improved form 'of'tube torpedo. fMore particu-larly it is an ob ect of tlns invention to provide, ina tube torpedo, novel I N forretaining the explosive compound within .thesame. j

Another object of the present invention is to provide an inexpensive, simple casing adapted to receive an explosive charge, together withineans' for simply and effectively f sealing the explosivein the casing, to thus insure' an actual disruption of the same when the explosive compoundis detonated, thus preventing initial e'scapement of gases and insuring .a loud report. 1 Other and further objects of the invention will be more apparent upon a consideration of the accompanying drawing and following.

specification wherein are disclosed two exemplary embodimentsthereof, it being understood, however,thatvarious changes may be made therein by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention as expressed in Insaid drawing;

. @Figure 1 is a vertical central section through one form of torpedo constructed according to the present invention, and

' In the manufactureof toy torpedoes, the greatestv difliculty confronting themanufac- .tureriis the provision of a cheap and simply yforrhed container for the explosive material, ,7 -which canbe readily closed and sealed after being charged with; the explosive material {i and gravel-or otherdetonating means. Re-

' ferring to the. drawing, it will be seen that the presentinvention.contemplates the pro- 'vision of a simple straight tube 10. formed of paper, cardboard or other suitable fibrous mav I terial which may be treated withany desired compound to render the same waterproof. .,.Thetube is preferably-formed by rolling a thin. sheet of'the material, covered with ad'- hesive, into a tubular form having ends cut olfat right angles to the axis of the tube. It 1 I is tobe understood that in transversesection the tube may be circular, elliptical or of any [other desired configuration. The tube may esssmcmesmns ELKTON, MAnYLANn, ASSIGNOR-TO-VICTORY sxu rrniiznn & srnommv. COMPANY, or ELKTON, M RYLAND, A oonrona'rronorw DELAWARE.

hpplication filed May 1 rijeans'forclosing the ends of, the tube and the appended claims.

Figure 2 is a similar View of a second form..

' .rronrnno.

be provided with an]auxiliarylbottom con- 'sistin of a single disk '11, as shown in Fig. 1, of such I V the tube and to be frictionally retained in position during the charging operation. This disk is displaced a short distance 12fab0ve the bottom of the tube.

' The tubes thus'fitted are usually assembled in a tray with the open ends uppermost' to receive the'explos v'e charge, which may, and

usually does, consist of sulphur, potassium chlorate and antimony. At the same time, a suitable quantity of gravel, smallpebbles or a diameter as to have'a snug'fit within other abrasive granules are charged 'intothe tube to serve as elen'i'entsfto produce friction and percussion for exploding the composition. Toclose the top of the tube, it is provided with a disk13 similar-in construction and fit to the disk 11. The disks .11 and 13 may be formed of the same or similar material to that used to form the tube 10 and may be waterproofed if desired. 1

The disk 13 is displaced inwardly from the 1 upper end of the tube a distance 14 substantially the same as the distance 12 from which the disk 11 is spaced from the lower end of the tube.

hesive to stick to the inner walls of the tube V 10, so that the disks 11 and 13 cannot be readily blown out of the tube upon explosion. It i must preferably require but a short time for V The cup-like spaces beyond the outer faces of the disks 11' and 13 are then drying and should not crack after being dried, nor should it expand'or contract in unequal relation to the material forming the tube and disks. Furthermore, it should not shatter upon the necessary impactto explode the torpedo, before the explosion takes place,

and when shattered by the explosion'shonld break into small pieces so as not to fly. a great distance and injure bystanders. It should be waterproof and fireproof. The sealing com position'forms no part of the present invention and need not be further described herein.

The purpose of the disks 11 and 13 is to retain the explosive composition and gravel in position during charging and while the ends are being sealed. Reliance need not be placed upon the frictional en agement of these disks with the walls of the ube, for they may sive, particularly the bottom 7 The bottom disk receives the brunt of the rough"treatment when the tube is being charged," and it may be found that owing to.. fits small area oflcontactwith the sidewalls of the tubethat it may be displaced. To prevent this, itmay be made in the formof a -1 cup 17,,as shown in Fig.2, by pressing a larger disk into a suitable die to turn the edges 18 upwardly. Theseedges or side alls" may be of any suitable height in order to pre-.

sent suflicient surface to the Walls "oflthef tube to receive the proper amount of adhesive ma.- terial to insure the cup remaining in'po'siti'on during the charging and sealing-operations.

- Beneath this cup is provided the same seal ing composition as in the'case of Fig. 1, and preferably the top closure for the'tube is asimple disk 1 3 asshown in Fig. 1, since immediately upon the application of this disk,'the adhesive compound may be applied over the same, insuring its remaining inthe proper position.

Having thus described'the invention,what

be coated on their'edgeswith an adheQ .the tube;

by Letters Patent is :1 7

1. A torpedo casing end of the tube; an explosive charge inthe casingbetween the disks, and means, filling of the tube for securing'the arranged in the'lopen' ends of -the tube-'for'sej V curing. the disks therein.

3'. .Ina torpedo, in combination, a fibrous, container body'infthe form oi an open ended n tube, an explos ve in saldtube, means spaced inwardly from theends of said t-ubei tjo con:

fine the explosive therein,'and adhesive seal ing means'fillingth'e remaining portions of In testimony whereof I hereuntoaflix my I signature.

is claimedas new'and desired to secured V I consisting an open V ended tube ;v a disk Within and closing each Q r 2. A torpedo casing cons sting of anopen HERBERT CLAUSER: 

